Nathan Cayless retires from international rugby league May 2009 NZRL Strategic Plan Workshops A communication from NZRL Interim CEO Murray McCaw has now been emailed out to all NZRL District Leagues outlining the work- shops have been scheduled to develop the five-year NZRL Strategic Plan. The Workshops will be conducted by SPARC’s Sue Suckling, and will run for approximately four hours. No NZRL personnel will be in atten- dance at these sessions. Sue will take attendees through a presentation, answering queries and taking feedback. Presentation materials will be provided at the workshops for Districts to take away for further consideration and discussion with their members, before making any final sub- missions to NZRL by Friday 03 July 2009. This feedback will greatly assist the new NZRL Board, which will be in place by the end of June 2009, in finalising the Strategic Plan submission to Sparc on behalf of the sport. This will also as- sist the new Zone Boards that are expected to be in place by 30 September 2009 in developing the supporting Zone Strategic Plans. Workshop No.1 - Wellington Workshop No. 2 - Canterbury When: 10.00am, Saturday 13 June 2009 When: 10.00am, Sunday 14 June 2009 Venue: Sport Wellington Offices Venue: Canterbury Rugby League Offices 113 Adelaide Road 95 Jack Hinton Drive Wellington Addington Christchurch Districts Invited: Hawkes Bay, Manawatu, Taranaki, Wellington Districts Invited: Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Tasman, West Coast Workshop No. 3 - Tauranga Workshop No. 4 - Auckland When: 10.00am, Saturday 20 June 2009 When: 10.00am, Sunday 21 June 2009 Venue: Sport Bay of Plenty Offices Venue: NZRL House 271 Cameron Road 7 Beasley Avenue Tauranga Penrose Auckland Districts Invited: Bay of Plenty, Coastline, Gis- borne, Waikato Districts Invited: Auckland, Whangarei City & Districts, Counties-Manukau Club Representa- tives, North Harbour Club Representatives What’s In This Issue Page 2: VB Test Page 5: Prime Minister’s Athlete Scholarships Page 3: Nathan Cayless retires from international Page 6: Canterbury Rugby League Trots night rugby league Page 7: Auckland Rugby League Centenary Cele- Page 4: LeagueSmart workshops brations Disappointing result in the VB Test With Kiwi hopes riding high, and a return to the scene of the Kiwis’ historic win over the Kanga- roos in the Rugby League World Cup Final last year, all eyes were on Suncorp’s Stadium in Bris- bane as the Kiwis again squared off against their Australian counter-parts. Unfortunately, while Australia couldn't do anything about regaining the Rugby League World Cup, it did make some amends with a convincing 38-10 win over the Pirtek Kiwis in the Anzac Test on 08 May. KooGa come on board New Zealand Rugby League welcomes KooGa onboard as the new kit providers to the Kiwis and all other international representative teams. The new Kiwis playing jersey was worn for the first time by the Kiwis in the VB Test, with the retail range due to be in New Zealand shops within weeks. Keep an eye on the NZRL website for further information on when and where the official Kiwis range will be available for purchase. Nathan Cayless retires from international league In late April World Cup-winning Pirtek Kiwis captain Nathan Cayless confirmed he was ending his international rugby league career after playing 38 tests for the Kiwis. What better way to finish up than after leading the Pirtek Kiwis to their historic 34-20 World Cup final win over the Kangaroos last year! NATHAN CAYLESS (Parramatta Eels) Born: March 28, 1978 Other NRL Clubs: Nil Height: 185cm Kiwi Number: 673 Weight: 106kg Tests: 38 (1998 - 2008) Position: Prop Test Points 12 (3 tries) Junior Club: Wentworthville (Sydney) Left: Against the Kangaroos, July 2001, the year Nathan was NZRL’s Player of the Year. Right: Nathan with Se’e Solomona after the Kiwis’ victory over the Kan- garoos in October 2005, the first Kiwis victory over the Australians in Sydney since the early 1950s. Left: Holding aloft the Rugby League World Cup trophy, No- vember 2008. Nathan with his brother Jason (left) and Ruben Wiki (centre) after winning against the Kangaroos in October 2003, the 100th time the Kiwis had Nathan with some fans at the Kids 2 Kiwis launch played the Aussies. day, Auckland, 2009. LeagueSmart workshops rolling out across the country Since April of this year, a total of 314 people have attended LeagueSmart workshops around the country, with a further eight workshops confirmed in Auckland and Wellington over the next few weeks. There has also been three First Aid Officer courses run in Auckland, with 70 people attending, and one First Aid Officer Course run in Canterbury, where 20 people were in attendance. All those who took the First Aid Officer course also completed the LeagueSmart module, as complet- ing LeagueSmart is one of the core course requirements of the First Aid Officer course. This a good start, but efforts are still required to reach the target of having 1,000 people partici- pate in the LeagueSmart program in 2009. Dis- LeagueSmart is the NZRL injury preven- tricts and Clubs play a vital role in ensuring this tion and performance programme. It in- target is reached by continuing to liaise with cludes sections on: LeagueSmart course providers and the NZRL to ensure every opportunity is given to our mem- • Player Profiles bers to take part in the LeagueSmart program. • Warm up and cool down Those Districts that have instigated the LeagueSmart workshops are now benefiting • Fitness and training from the free resources that form an integral • Session planners part of the programme i.e. rule books, and mini- mod referee bibs and the lanyard that includes a • Technique whistle and rule-cards for Mini and Mod football. • Fair Play Additional courses that are available through • Protective gear Districts and Clubs are Coaching courses for Mini and Mod football and International Games • The right food and drink Football, Managers courses and First Aid Offi- • Reporting injuries cer / Level 1 Trainer courses. • Checking the playing environment LeagueSmart Workshop attendances • Getting injuries treated to date, by District: • Concussion Awareness Auckland (seven Clubs) 123 Also delivered in the LeagueSmart work- Canterbury (nine Clubs) 101 shop is the Mini - Mod module covering Bay of Plenty (four Clubs) 49 the rules, purpose and importance of Wellington (two Clubs) 30 Educational football. Coastline 11 Feedback on the Mini - Mod course and resources from Brownie at Wellington’s Randwick Club Well aren't those Rule cards just a marvel, got some of our parents refereeing games at Mini level on Sat and they warned spectators any form of abuse on the sideline and they'll be Red carded it was a laugh, very good tool. Anyway, as they are a hit with those that received them, is there any chance of getting some more of them down our way to hand out on other workshops? I had 2 people wearing the bibs on Sat as well and again they were won- derful, it is sending the message out there. I had a Radio interview Sat 8.30am regarding the LeagueSmart workshop as 1 of the people who attended the workshop on Wed evening works for the local Radio Station 96.9FM Atiawa Toa FM. He said to the viewers 'Well there's not too many times that I come away from any meeting enjoying what was dis- cussed, but I must say that workshop was brilliant, good initiative from NZRL to put this form [of] educational material out there for the people to understand the importance of everything to do with our kids and the im- age of the game'. 2009 Transfers Cut-off Dates International transfers close this year on Tuesday 30 June, and Domestic inter-District transfers close on Friday 31 July. Contact Kevin Bailey if you require the official NZRL forms, or if you have any other queries regarding transfers. Drug Free Sport Lectures - Mandatory Attendance All players participating in the 2009 National Provincial Premiership - U16s, U18s and Open Men’s - must attend a Drug Free Sport Lecture prior to the start of the competition, which com- mences on Saturday 22 August. Team Managers will liaise with the Districts and NZRL on dates and venues, then advise their players. Attendance is compulsory. NZRL Revised Constitution The revised NZRL Constitution, as accepted at the NZRL Annual General Meeting in March this year, is available on the NZRL website www.nzrl.co.nz under the Corporate Policies page of the NZRL Policies and Rules section. IRD Unclaimed Money There is a list on the New Zealand IRD website www.ird.govt.nz of people and organisations that are owed a refund by the IRD. Refunds are due to Dad’s Army Rugby League ($865.09) and Tu- hoe Rugby Lea ($576.31) - if you or anyone you know was involved with these two organisations let them know the Government owes them money! Prime Minister’s Athlete Scholarships Historically, a significant number of applications from rugby league players who have applied for the Prime Minister’s Athlete Scholarship have been declined due to the applications not having the endorsement of either the NZRL or SPARC. This year, NZRL High Performance Director Tony Kemp is the point of contact for any Districts that have queries on the criteria SPARC use when awarding Prime Minister Scholarships. The criteria are listed below; full information is available on the SPARC website www.sparc.org.nz Eligibility Criteria for a Scholarship The applicant must satisfy all of the following criteria: • Be capable of impacting SPARC’s high performance mission, More New Zealanders win- ning on the world stage. Any athlete from any sport may be able to impact this mis- sion.